Tuul, Harry

4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Äripäev - Estonia | 24/04/2015

Latvia's enviable economic policy

The Latvian government on Thursday extended a law under which newly founded firms only pay nine percent value added tax in the first three years. The Estonian business daily Äripäev looks enviously at the Latvians: "With this step a law has been formulated and extended which is clearly aimed at bolstering small companies. And this is not the only important decision. In Latvia there's an upper limit for social contributions on salaries above 3,867 euros. The goal is to promote the creation of highly paid jobs. These are clear examples of how to shape the economic climate in the long term. ... Moreover they highlight very clearly the fact that if at the start of the century Estonia was the pioneer in the region with fresh new ideas, we must now regard the Latvians with deference."

Bring Russians and Ukrainians to Estonia

Estonia's working population is steadily decreasing according to the country's statistics office. The business paper Äripäev suggests now is the time to try and attract good brains from Russia and Ukraine: "The recruitment and integration of talents from the East could be more effective than setting up a Russian-language television channel, because it would be a signal to the world. If and when these talented people return home one day, they will hopefully take with them a picture of Estonia as a friendly and attractive land of possibilities. What could be a better advertisement for our country and at the same time a guarantee of security? ... On the other hand, it would also be a signal on the home front: if a place can be found for successful Russians and Ukrainians in our society, it would give new impetus to integration here in Estonia."

Football fever an opportunity for Putin

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed concerns on Friday that Russian tanks have advanced in eastern Ukraine. The business paper Äripäev wouldn't be surprised if Russia took advantage of the Fifa World Cup to change the situation on the ground: "Things were much the same in 2008, when the so-called Georgia War started during the Olympic Games in Beijing. Right when the eyes of the world were directed elsewhere. Then, too, Russia helped the separatists in the Georgian areas of South Ossetia and Abkhasia, which were split off from the state in the course of the war. ... And that's more or less how things happened in Crimea, too, which Ukraine has already lost. Nevertheless, just as who becomes world football champion is decided on the pitch and not on paper, despite a certain logic behind Putin's behavioural pattern it is hard to predict how things will turn out in Ukraine."

Good old Skype gone from Estonia

At the end of August the Internet phone service Skype will celebrate the tenth anniversary of its founding. But the influence of the Estonians who first developed the software is dwindling, the liberal daily Eesti Päevaleht complains, criticising the business culture at the Microsoft subsidiary: "Many of the first employees regard the anniversary as a funeral too. The decisions are no longer made in Tallinn or London, but at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, USA. True, this doesn't mean that Skype no longer employs any Estonians or that the company will move away entirely in the near future. But it does mean that the 'good old Skype' is a thing of the past. The Estonians are no longer pioneers, and have no say in the important decisions."